Boy told police 'I did it', park murder trial told

A 15-year-old boy accused of murdering an 80-year-old man told officers "I had my reasons, but I did it", a court has heard.

The boy is on trial charged with killing Bhim Kohli at Franklin Park in Braunstone Town, Leicestershire, in September last year.

His co-defendant, a 13-year-old girl, is also on trial accused of manslaughter.

On Friday, the jury at Leicester Crown Court heard transcripts from the defendants' police interviews.

The boy and girl, who were 14 and 12 at the time, cannot be named due to their ages.

The court heard officers noted that while sitting in a police car following his arrest, the boy said: "I did it, I did it. I have my reasons but I did it."

In his police statement, the boy claimed he had been in the park for about 10 minutes when he was told there was a man in the park who had pulled out a knife on a friend of his co-defendant previously.

He said he approached Mr Kohli on 1 September to ask him if he was carrying a knife, asking a second time when he did not get an answer.

He claimed it had sounded like Mr Kohli swore at him and then tried to hit him, but that he dodged it and hit Mr Kohli back.

The boy said later in his interviews that he hit Mr Kohli three times, on his arm and jaw, but denied kicking him.

He said after walking away from Mr Kohli, the 80-year-old approached his friend - his co-defendant - with his hands raised and he was worried about her.

He said he ran at Mr Kohli, pushing him over and also fell on to him.

In his statement to police, read to the court, he said: "I didn't want to hurt the male, he was the one who had become aggressive.

"He had taken photos of me and I even posed for them.

"I deeply regret the incident and was horrified to hear he died. I would like to express my sadness to his family and friends."

The boy responded "no comment" to a number of questions.

The court heard before the boy left the park, he said he told a woman to call an ambulance because the battery on his phone was low.

When asked why did he did not use his friend's phone to call an ambulance, the boy said: "Because I didn't want to be there."

Asked why, he responded: "I was panicked. He started it, I've already explained it."

The boy was told by officers a paramedic who attended the scene said Mr Kohli told them he was kicked and that "the kids" were calling him a racial slur.

When asked if he had aimed a racial slur at Mr Kohli, he said "no".

In the girl's account to police of what happened, she said she had gone to the park with four friends, including the murder-accused.

She said she was sitting on a bench away from the initial altercation between the boy and Mr Kohli, before going to "see what was happening".

The girl was shown footage of the assault she recorded on her phone.

When asked what made her film it, she said: "I don't know, just to show [the boy] what he had done from far away."

Describing one of the clips during the interview, the girl said [the boy] "slapped [Mr Kohli] round the head with his slider [shoe]".

Asked whether she got any enjoyment out of it, she replied: "Not really but it was a bit funny at the time."

The officer asked: "Did you want to wind him up?"

"No," she replied.

After Mr Kohli fell to the ground, the girl said: "We just left."

"He was just laid on the floor and I think he was breathing pretty loud," she told officers.

The girl told officers how a few weeks prior to his death, Mr Kohli had apples thrown at him by a group of teenagers in the park.

"He thought we were with them so he came up to us and he had something in his pocket," she said in the transcript read to the court.

However, she said in her interview that she did not see a knife.

She also said it had been "spread around" among friends that Mr Kohli carried a pocket knife.

The officer asked the girl: "Was Mr Kohli somebody that the kids all poked fun at?"

She replied: "I think so, yeah, but I wouldn't do that. I think it's because he's old or, I don't know."

The trial continues.

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